Artist relocation

When it comes to the arts, people here get it

Baker City styles itself as a smaller Austin or Marfa. Baker City has historically built its economy on agriculture and natural resources but over time, new residents have made the arts a focus of civic pride and economic development.

As a sponsor of local arts activities, Baker City Realty specializes in helping grow our area’s arts community. We understand what artists are looking for and specialize in artist relocation. Whether you want to be in the center of action downtown, or need solitude and amazing views, or require a finished shop set up and zoned for wood, metal or stonework, we can find it for you.

“Baker has always been about arts and culture and we have an extremely vibrant arts community that we are actively cultivating,” said Ginger Savage, executive director of Crossroads Carnegie Arts Center. “It is a beautiful place and the vistas are inspirations for what artists do. We have a lot of online artists who come here to get the best of all worlds – we’re only a few hours from Boise and larger coastal art markets, yet they enjoy the advantages of small-town life.”

The arts are nurtured here

Savage is at the center of the local arts action and rattles off a list of local fixtures: six art galleries, an art gallery wine bar, an art gallery chocolate bar, three functioning art guilds, a writers’ group, a local film festival, literary readings, a good local library, monthly downtown gallery strolls that attract 300 people on average.

In addition to the formal arts community, it’s the informal things like street arts, sidewalks art and street musicians show that Baker City’s arts efforts are authentic.

History of diversity

Baker’s tradition as a culturally diverse place goes back a long way. It developed as a commercial center along the Oregon Trail, bringing a mix of merchants, farmers, cattlemen, Native Americans, Chinese immigrants and traders. It remains a vital connection between Boise to the east and Portland to the west, geographically and culturally bridging the Pacific and Intermountain region.